Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 339 How stupid!

Li Wuxiang had been sensing with his divine sense the entire time, but he hadn't detected any living beings, not even souls. So where was this sound coming from?!
Almost simultaneously, the two turned to look at the source of the sound—the rock wall beside them.

The area beneath the rock face was no longer bare, but covered in moss and dense bushes, and the sound came from behind the bushes.

Xue Baoping took two steps back, and Li Wuxiang pointed with his fingers. Several small trees in front of the rock wall immediately fell down, and the creeping flowers and grass under the trees were also cleared away by the sword energy, revealing the rock wall behind them.

The stone walls were never a single, flat piece; they all had gaps. Li Wuxiang saw three larger ones, one large enough to fit a fist, and the other two only slightly wider than a palm.

The two listened intently, holding their breath, but the sound did not reappear. Li Wuxiang then asked, "Where does it hurt?"

No one answered, but the sobbing sound started again—it came from the smaller gap on the left.

Li Wuxiang released his flying sword, unleashing its sword light to illuminate the crevice. There was no larger space inside, just a narrow crevices. Within these crevices was a dark, indistinct shape, resembling a clump of dirt or something else. He sniffed, discovering a strong stench of blood emanating from it. However, the smell of blood had already been present on the rock walls and in the soil, thus masking it.

After a moment's thought, he walked to the rock wall and pried some of the rocks apart with his bare hands.

The first thing that came to his mind when he saw what was inside was a ghoul. It was a small, wrinkled mass of flesh and bone, about the size of a fist, but with eyes and teeth. It looked as if it had been crammed in there; the eyeballs were squeezed out of shape, bloodshot and about to burst. The two rows of teeth were also squeezed out of shape, protruding one by one, incredibly ugly.

But upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be a ghoul. There was only this one mass, and no blood nerves were visible inside.

Xue Baoping's expression changed upon seeing this thing, and Li Wuxiang also let out a soft breath before asking, "Who are you?"

"Waaaaah... I'm Hu Wei..."

what?
The two exchanged a glance. But this thing didn't seem like it would harm anyone, and it kept crying, so Li Wuxiang calmed himself down and, realizing he wasn't acting strangely, asked, "Is it hurting from being squeezed?"

The thing in the crevice cried and said yes. Li Wuxiang walked over, broke off a few more stones from the outside, and used his flying sword to cut a few stone shards off both sides of the thing—it fell down suddenly, and Li Wuxiang caught it.

It was only the size of a fist, light as a feather in the palm of your hand. Flesh, bone, skin, eyeballs, and teeth were all mixed together in an irregular circle, covered with a hard shell of scabs.

Li Wuxiang tried to ask her a few questions, but she seemed to have lost her mind and could only say things like "it hurts," "it's noisy," and "I am Hu Wei."

Xue Baoping felt a chill run down her spine: "Is she really Hu Wei?"

Li Wuxiang leaned towards the latter. However, with yesterday's events as a warning, he dared not fully trust his own judgment. Since the creature was crying so pitifully, Li Wuxiang sprinkled some healing and pain-relieving powder on her. The powder had a remarkable effect; after only three or four breaths, she stopped crying, her eyes shrinking back into her flesh, as if she had fallen asleep.

Both of them were silent for a moment—the thought that the real Hu Wei might have been eaten by the fake Hu Wei already felt somewhat cruel. But now, if this thing really was Hu Wei, and had been done this way by the fake Hu Wei, then it wasn't just cruel, it was perverse. But why would she do this? And why hide it here?
The next moment, Li Wuxiang paused slightly, then reached into his stomach to retrieve something. Mei Qiulu had given him a book in the cave near Dajie Mountain, so Li Wuxiang took it out and began to read.

Mei Qiulu's book was certainly no ordinary item. It was a booklet, but when opened, it was filled with densely packed handwriting, barely larger than sesame seeds. An ordinary person without much cultivation would feel dizzy and lightheaded after reading it for a short while, and once the book was closed, they would remember nothing.

But when Li Wuxiang looked at it, the words seemed to move according to his will. Since the fake Hu Wei might be a demon, he followed some impressions from his memory and found her after a quarter of an hour.

There is such a record in the Universal Demon and Ghost Chapter—

There is a demon called Mao, an elderly tiger. It delights in wearing a necklace around its neck, adorning itself with its skull. When it devours a person, it takes their form; its nature is cunning and treacherous. After a hundred years, its fangs become sharp and menacing; after five hundred years, wings grow that reach the sky. Through countless seasons, its armor and scales gleam; after three thousand kalpas, it transforms into a Qilin, a propitious omen. Those it devours are driven to serve as its accomplices, aiding its evil deeds in the mortal world. Though transformed into a Qilin, its malevolent nature remains, and the terrifying necklace adorning its skull does not diminish in the slightest.

This passage describes a monster called "Mao," which is a tiger that has lived too long and gained supernatural powers. It likes to wear human heads as necklaces. After eating a person, it mimics that person's shape and is very cunning. At one hundred years old, it grows long tusks; at five hundred, it grows wings; at one thousand, it grows scales; and at three thousand, it transforms into a Qilin (a mythical creature). Those eaten by this monster become its accomplices, helping it cause mischief. Although transformed into a Qilin, its malevolent nature remains undiminished.

Li Wuxiang thought of this demon called Mao for two reasons.

The first point is the "Overlord's Egg"—this is something from his previous life, something he came from, and it looks like it's made up of many distorted human faces, hanging around someone's neck.

Because of this first point, he thought of what was recorded in the book: Mao liked to hang human heads around his neck. When he had seen it by chance before, he thought that Mao must be very big, otherwise how could he use human heads as a necklace? But now, seeing this one in his hand, he realized that such human heads must be like this—made up of various bone fragments and rotten flesh.

Li Wuxiang pointed the record to Xue Baoping, then sighed: "She should be the real Hu Wei, but the fake Hu Wei made this into something, and maybe she'll want to wear it around her neck in the future. But why is she hidden here? Today is the 11th."

Xue Baoping has the ability to resurrect people, but she can only use it on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month. Today is the eleventh, and Hu Wei's soul should still be in this small head. We'll have to wait another four days.

"Wait four more days." Xue Baoping nodded, then looked at Li Wuxiang, "What's wrong with you?"

Having spent so much time with Li Wuxiang, he no longer pretended to be profound in front of her, so his thoughts naturally showed on his face. Now, Xue Baoping noticed that Li Wuxiang's expression was somewhat grave, and this couldn't be solely because the Hu Wei in the alchemy room was an imposter.

"I'm thinking about this tiger demon, and what the origins of that possibly stronger one on Qingpu Mountain are."

"In Senior Sister Mei's booklet, the section on demons and ghosts of the universe records many demons, especially the great demons, which do not exist in the Central Continent now. But they did exist before—before Li Ye was born, the most powerful race in the Central Continent was not humans, but demons. After he was born, a lot of people became immortals and began to cultivate, which led to the extermination of both great and small demons. That's why people nowadays rarely encounter demons."

"The one in the alchemy room has a very high level of cultivation, and the one on Qingpu Mountain might be even higher. What do you think is the chance that they've been hiding in the Central Continent all along? People who can cultivate to that level would cause a lot of trouble. Although the Central Continent is large, wherever there are people, there are cultivation sects. Although they may be loosely organized, they are still interconnected. What do you think is the chance that they haven't been discovered all these years?"

"So I'm afraid this demon isn't from the Central Plains. If it's not from the Central Plains, things will get a bit more complicated. We need to figure things out; I'm afraid there's more than one on Qingpu Mountain."

Xue Baoping nodded, looked around, and found a purslane plant. She squatted down, plucked a stalk, and broke the stem off piece by piece, leaving only the bark connecting them. In this way, she made something that looked like a necklace—she loved making these things when she was little.

“Let’s go back, I’ll take this to her.”

Li Wuxiang paused for a moment, then laughed: "You want to see it? I don't think so, you're not that stupid." Xue Baoping pointed to the crevice in the rock: "She hid it here, who knows."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "That works too. Just in case."

……

When Xie Qi returned to the alchemy room, Hu Wei was still there. He led her around the courtyard, explaining what each area was for. After showing her, he asked her to practice her internal energy cultivation, saying he wanted to see where she had gone wrong in her previous practice.

Xu Pianpian was annoyed by him. Whenever Xie Qi wasn't paying attention, she would stare at his neck, thinking that although this old man was wrinkled and had a lot of hair, he had high cultivation and his taste should not be bad. Maybe she should just kill him.
She carefully considered many reasons, trying to get information out of him as she went. The old man was too stupid; he answered whatever she was asked. After asking him repeatedly, Xu Pianpian realized it wouldn't work—she couldn't say he ran away from the mountain, nor could she say he accidentally fell to his death. If she really killed him, it would be very troublesome.

She had no choice but to patiently play with him until Li Wuxiang and Xue Baoping returned.

Xu Zhen said that she should first get acquainted with Li Wuxiang and Xue Baoping to completely lower their guard, then kill Xie Qi and Li Jianbai first, then kill Xue Baoping, and finally say that Li Yin had asked her to do everything, and that she didn't need to worry about anything else.

He also said that this matter cannot be rushed, and we should wait at least a few days until Qingpu Mountain is ready.

She was quite happy at first—she had her own little room on Dapan Mountain, and Xu Zhen wasn't watching over her anymore. It was so relaxing and carefree. She even thought about going back to that place in a couple of days to get the beads back.

After eating Hu Wei, she turned her into beads, but they weren't completely finished yet. Because she was in such a hurry, and Tong Ling kept urging her, she got annoyed and had to hide the beads for now.

She was so happy last night that she forgot about it. She remembered it today, but then Xie Qi, that old geezer, started bothering her again. Now that Xue Baoping and Li Wuxiang are back, she's even more glued to her side—both Nascent Soul cultivators are staying in the courtyard, so she definitely can't sneak out at night.

Thinking about this made her feel sorry for her beads, thinking that it would be no fun at all if they died and rotted in a few days.

But when Xue Baoping walked back into the courtyard through the back door and saw Xie Qi teaching her how to meditate and stand in a stance, she said, "Elder Xie, why don't you refrain from instructing her today?"

Xie Qi was slightly taken aback, thought for a moment, and then looked at Li Wuxiang: "Does the Divine Lord intend to teach him personally?"

As they spoke, Xue Baoping stood at the doorway of the east wing's side room, while Xie Qi and Xu Pianpian stood at the entrance to the main hall. Xue Baoping quietly waved to Xie Qi, who hesitated for a moment, but still went over to speak to her.

Xu Pianpian immediately took a step back and stepped back into the alchemy room, listening intently. She heard Xue Baoping whispering to Xie Qi, "I'm worried that it might be bad for her health to start practicing today after being frightened and injured yesterday. Look how thin and small she is; she must be congenitally weak. We have a set of body-refining and qi-tonifying techniques here, and we'd like to teach her those first. Elder Xie, you can teach her after she's recovered. That way, her progress will be faster."

Xie Qi: "Ah... Will the Divine Lord teach us his cultivation techniques? Is that alright?"

Sure, of course! What are you saying, you old man? If she teaches me, I can become familiar with her!

Then she heard Xue Baoping chuckle: "It's nothing too profound. Elder Xie, you can certainly teach others in the future—how about I take her away and teach her for a few days first?"

"Sure, sure, of course it'll work."

Then she heard Xue Baoping's footsteps. Xu Pianpian immediately shook her head and pulled her ears away.

Xue Baoping almost bumped into her as she walked in. Then she stopped and looked at her: "Junior Sister Hu—"

He sighed again, stepped back slightly to look at her more closely: "Sigh, did he scare you yesterday? Your face still looks pale today."

Xu Pianpian stopped her playful antics and immediately imitated Hu Wei's tone, bowing her head: "No. Thank you for the medicine, Master."

"So you're afraid of me too, aren't you?" Xue Baoping asked. "Don't be afraid. My cultivation is a little stronger than yours, but I won't lose my temper. Look, have you ever played with this before? Wear it around your neck as a necklace. He gave you a Great Extinction Pill, how about I give you this instead?"

She handed the necklace made of purslane to Hu Wei. The plant had been pulled down and would wilt soon. When Xue Baoping handed it to her, the grass necklace was limp and droopy, with some parts even turning black.

Xu Pianpian wasn't happy when she said, "I'm a little better than you." She was even more unhappy when she heard her say, "How about I give you this?" She knew she should accept it and thank her, so she did. But she couldn't resist and tugged at her collar: "Senior sister, look, I have this too. I have a necklace too."

"I found it on the way back."

Then Xue Baoping saw her necklace. It was made of many small red beads, each only the size of a soybean, which at first glance looked like red agate. But the surface of the beads was not smooth, but uneven. Xu Pianpian only tugged at the collar and loosened it, so Xue Baoping didn't see it clearly.

She said, "Is it strung together with small pebbles? It looks really nice. It would be better if they were a little rounder, otherwise they're a bit uncomfortable."

Xu Pianpian immediately tugged at her collar again: "Senior sister, it's not a pebble, it's a human head... a human face, it's quite cute."

Xue Baoping saw clearly; they really were human faces. Each small bead had a different face on it. Some were laughing happily, some seemed to be crying, and some had distorted faces that looked extremely terrified.

Xue Baoping nodded: "I didn't expect that pebbles could be carved so exquisitely. It's quite beautiful."

Then the two of them thought at the same time—

She's so stupid.

(End of this chapter)